Minimum energy coding for RF transmission

A source coding algorithm minimizing the battery power needed for RF transmission is presented. Digital RF transmitters in portable devices consume energy only when high bits are sent and virtually no energy is consumed when low bits are sent. Therefore, energy consumption can be minimized by devising a source coding algorithm that minimizes the occurrence of high bits in transmitting information. In this paper, we first formulate the minimum energy source coding problem for RF transmission. We then derive the optimal memoryless coding algorithm from the source statistics. Finally, we improve the memoryless coding performance via a novel technique that utilizes a simple memory mechanism. Overall, we take a first step towards a novel energy saving wireless communication protocol.